His Dangerous Love On Ice (Olivia and Zane) novel Chapter 45

Olive’s POV

Fifteen years ago, I was nine

Walter had gotten Klaus his first car-a sleek silver thing that Klaus treated like it was made of gold. Klaus was always the favorite. I’d known it from the beginning, even when I was too young to understand what favoritism really meant.

Walter supported him in every game, every race, every stupid decision Got him that car at fourteen because “Klaus loved driving And in a way, the car was mine too. I’d sit in the passenger seat while Klaus practiced in empty parking lots, pretending we were going on adventures.

Until the day Klaus decided to race his best friend Jayden down Highway 9.

They crashed. Totaled the car. Broke Klaus’s arm in two places.

And I took the blame.

Told Walter I’d convinced Klaus to do it, that I’d been the one pushing him all week because he’d been talking about racing nonstop and I thought it would make him happy. Thought maybe if Klaus was happy, the family would be happy. And maybe-just maybe-they’d finally see me.

The memory slammed into me now, standing outside my father’s perfect house, and suddenly everything made horrible. perfect sense.

“Oh my god.” The laugh that came out of me was sharp, unhingel. “You’re managing an illegal street racing operation?”

“It’s not illegal,” Zane said, voice calm as ever. “Technically.”

“Technically?” I whirled on him. “What the hell does that even mean?”

“It means we operate in a gray area.” There was something almos amused in his expression now. “Very gray.”

“How gray?” My voice was climbing higher. “Like tax evasion gray or people actually die gray?”

“No one’s died.” Walter said quickly. “Well. Not recently.”

“NOT RECENTLY?” I was screaming now and I didn’t care who heard. “What the actual fuck, Walter?”

“It’s safe.” Zane cut in, his tone shifting to something more serious. “Your father is very good at what he does. He manages logistics, handles drivers, makes sure everything runs smoothly. it’s just… unconventional work.”

“Unconventional.” I stared at him. “You own an underground racing club and my father works for you.”

“Yes.”

“And you didn’t think to mention this before?”

“You didn’t ask.”

I wanted to hit him. Or shoot him. Or both. Maybe at the same time.

“How long?” I turned back to Walter, my chest tight. “How long have you been doing this?”

Walter looked at the ground. His hands were shaking.

“Eleven years.”

My eyes went wide. “What?”

I stood there, frozen, trying to do the math in my head. Eleven years meant-

Peach, trust me, it’s safe-

“Safe laughed again, bitter. “Is that what you call it? So safe you ve been lying to Annie this whole time? Should I go tell her right now? Scream it loud enough for the whole neighborhood to hear about your fake perfect life?”

No. Peach, please His voice cracked. “It’s nothing serious. I swear-

Does Mom even know about this

I needed to know. Needed to know if I was the only one who’d been kept in the dark, the only one who didn’t matter enough to be told the truth.

The look on his face was answer enough.

“Right” My voice came out cold. “Now I know why she left.”

I turned and walked straight to my car, vision blurring at the edges.

Behind me, I heard Zane say something to Walter-low, and clipped-before his footsteps started following me.

Each step he took made my heart skip. Made my hands shake harder on the roses I was still clutching like an idiot.

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